'Eddie the Eagle' director and 'Lock, Stock' actor Dexter Fletcher tells us the 5 actors he'd love to work with

Dexter Fletcher's career in movies kicked off in earnest when he
was nine-years-old, starring as Baby Face in the 1976 musical
"Buggsy Malone."

As a child, he went on to land roles in huge British productions
such as "The Long Good Friday," "The Elephant Man," and the
popular UK children's series "Press Gang."

Later, he appeared in HBO drama "Band of Brothers," "Carvaggio,"
and "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels."

Fletcher made his directorial debut in 2012 with "Wild Bill," but
this year he notched up his biggest director credit yet: "Eddie
the Eagle." The comedy movie tells the true story of the first
Great British Olympic ski jumper and stars Taron Egerton, Hugh
Jackman, and Christopher Walken.

We grabbed a quick five minutes with Fletcher shortly after his
appearance at Advertising Week Europe in London on Wednesday. We
spoke about his favorite moments from "Eddie the Eagle" and the
dream cast he'd love to assemble for a future movie.

Business Insider: When was the first moment you realized
you can actually start making money from acting and
film?

Dexter Fletcher: The first thing I did I made
money and I was only 6-years-old [in a stage show.] It wasn’t
lost on me that it was a job. Then I remember when I did "Buggsy
Malone," I was paid £15 a day. I did four days work and I worked
out I had sixty quid.

BI: What did you spend the money on?

DF: I went and bought a bike. Just as much money
as I’ve made, I’ve also lost as well. I’ve been bankrupt in my
time and I’ve been homeless.

The thing about acting is it’s very hand to mouth, as they say.
There’s a small band of actors who really make a good living out
of it. In my experience, 90% of actors at one time are
unemployed. It’s a very tough existence, that’s why I think
people are always invariably advising young people who say “I
want to be an actor” that you should have something to fall back
on and think again about it. It’s tough. But it’s like any
self-employed work. It’s difficult.

BI: Did you do any interesting jobs in between
jobs?

DF: I’ve not had to do that. I probably wouldn’t
be well-suited for it anyway, unless it was manual work of some
description, to be honest. There is a challenge of keeping
yourself busy. I started writing, I sold some scripts and stuff
like that so it’s always been in and around acting and
entertainment that I’ve done.

You can end up working in a pub theater for £12 a week if you’re
really desperate, but I’ve been lucky enough to not have to do
that. I probably should have done it. Maybe I wouldn’t have gone
bankrupt 20 years ago.

BI: You’ve had an amazing year this year so you won’t
have to worry about those bar jobs just yet. Some people are
saying you may
become a 'national treasure' this year. When you think of the
UK’s lineage of long national treasures, does sit easy with
you?

DF: I don’t know how these things are
determined! I don’t know. That’s very flattering and lovely and I
think that I’ve been acting since I was 6-years-old and I’ve been
around and people have known me for the best part of 40 years, so
that gives me a kind of great nostalgic tint when people see me.
I think that’s probably what it refers to, is that we know and we
like and we remember this guy because people remember me from
their childhood and that’s always a nice thing.

BI: What do people recognize you for the most?

DF: I don’t know, it varies. It could be "Lock
Stock, [and Two Smoking Barrels]," it could be "Hotel Babylon,"
"Caravaggio," it could be "Press Gang," it could be any number of
things. That’s why I’m lucky.

BI For me it’s "Press Gang."

DF: "Press Gang" is a very important piece of
work because there’s a whole generation of journalists who
watched that show and were inspired to write.

Writing is a fantastic, creative, wonderful thing to be part of.
I’m not sure what something like [BBC 1990s kids drama] "Byker
Grove" inspired people to be. You know what I mean?

I think that’s what separated "Press Gang" because it had some
sort of impetus in terms of you can do this thing. And here’s
these kids to look up to. She was a great character, Lynda Day,
in that running the newspaper role. And Stephen Moffat wrote it
and he’s doing" Doctor Who" and "Sherlock" — he’s a great writer.

BI: You’ve had the great fortune of acting, writing, and
directing. Which do you prefer?

DF: They’re all equally as frustrating and
rewarding. Anything borne of your own imagination it’s always
tough. When you get there you doubt it very quickly and you think
"I’ve got to do this again, but better." That’s the natural
instinct I think. I couldn’t pinpoint it out.

BI: What’s your favorite scene in "Eddie the
Eagle"?

DF: There’s a nice shot I like when Eddie meets
this PR girl in Calgary. It’s all in one shot and she’s really
excited to meet him because all the press are asking for him and
she wants to get him in front of the press. He’s a bit
bewildered.

There’s another shot where Eddie and Bronson Peary meet for the
first time, that’s an all-in-one as well, so if you’re talking
about really technical, those are very good.

But in terms of acting, I think my favorite scene is when Eddie
and Peary argue just before he goes off to Calgary and he says:
“Don’t be a fool, don’t go there and be a fool, go there and be a
contender. Don’t go and squander your chance.” And Eddie can’t
see what he’s talking about. Just dramatically I think that’s a
very very good scene.

BI: Does it stir up anything emotive? What struck you so
much?

DF: Because it’s good acting. I don’t have the
emotional connection to it that maybe the audience have when they
are watching it. There are certain things that resonate with the
audience that is different for everybody.

Some people get very choked up when Christopher Walken comes at
the end and Hugh Jackman meets his mentor and they have a
reconciliation and other people get very choked up when the dad
opens up his jacket and he says “I’m Eddie’s dad,” and other
people get choked up when he’s in the air and just want him to
land.

Julia Roberts is the actor
Fletcher would most like to work with.Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

For me, I just made the film, all I do is hope that these things
work. Then I don’t know. They don’t affect me emotionally. I’m
too involved in it. But it’s only when I sit down and watch the
audience and see what they’re reacting to, that’s the only way I
can gauge that it’s worked.

BI: Is there a particular actor that’s on your whilst to
work with?

DF: Julia Roberts, Charlize Theron; I’d love to
work with them. I’d quite like to work with Channing Tatum as
well. I think he’s an interesting dude.

If you see a film called “Foxcatcher,” Channing Tatum is actually
f-----g brilliant in it. Same as Oscar Isaac and Mark Ruffalo,
these are all great interesting actors that whenever you’re
casting a film, you put together a wishlist, and you put those
sort of people at the top.

I just think Julia Roberts is stunningly beautiful and incredibly
intelligent. But I just love most actors, I’m easily pleased when
it comes to actors.

BI: What’s next for you this year? What are you working
on at the moment?